Best tv shows like The Wire

Similar in 90%

The Bridge (2013)

Plot Summary:

A murdered body on a bridge between El Paso and Juarez bring together El Paso detective Sonya Cross and Chihuahua State Police detective Marco Ruiz.

Similar in 86%

Bosch (2014)

Plot Summary:

Based on Michael Connelly's best-selling novels, these are the stories of relentless LAPD homicide Detective Harry Bosch who pursues justice at all costs. But behind his tireless momentum is a man who is haunted by his past and struggles to remain loyal to his personal code: “Everybody counts or nobody counts.”.

Similar in 79%

Oz (1997)

Plot Summary:

The daily lives of prisoners in Emerald City, an experimental unit of the Oswald Maximum Security Prison where ingroups - Muslims, Latinos, Italians, Aryans - stick close to their mutual friends and terrorizes their mutual enemies.

Similar in 75%

Reacher (2022)

Plot Summary:

Plot unknown.

Similar in 90%

The Blacklist (2013)

Plot Summary:

Raymond "Red" Reddington, one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives, surrenders in person at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. He claims that he and the FBI have the same interests: bringing down dangerous criminals and terrorists. In the last two decades, he's made a list of criminals and terrorists that matter the most but the FBI cannot find because it does not know they exist. Reddington calls this "The Blacklist". Reddington will co-operate, but insists that he will speak only to Elizabeth Keen, a rookie FBI profiler.

Similar in 78%

Serpico (1973)

Plot Summary:

The real-life struggle of an honest New York City cop against a corrupt system.

Similar in 86%

L.A. Confidential (1997)

Plot Summary:

Three detectives in the corrupt and brutal L.A. police force of the 1950s use differing methods to uncover a conspiracy behind the shotgun slayings of the patrons at an all-night diner.

Similar in 86%

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999)

Plot Summary:

In the criminal justice system, sexually-based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories.

Similar in 87%

The Staircase (2022)

Plot Summary:

An exploration of the life of Michael Peterson, his sprawling North Carolina family, and the suspicious death of his wife, Kathleen Peterson.

Similar in 88%

Mr. Robot (2015)

Plot Summary:

A contemporary and culturally resonant drama about a young programmer, Elliot, who suffers from a debilitating anti-social disorder and decides that he can only connect to people by hacking them. He wields his skills as a weapon to protect the people that he cares about. Elliot will find himself in the intersection between a cybersecurity firm he works for and the underworld organizations that are recruiting him to bring down corporate America.

Similar in 85%

The Shield (2002)

Plot Summary:

The story of an inner-city Los Angeles police precinct where some of the cops aren't above breaking the rules or working against their associates to both keep the streets safe and their self-interests intact.

Similar in 88%

Gomorrah (2014)

Plot Summary:

Based on Robert Saviano's bestselling book, this gritty Italian crime drama paints a portrait of the brutal Neapolitan crime organisation the Camorra, as seen through the eyes of Ciro Di Marzo, the obedient and self- confident right-hand man of the clan's godfather, Pietro Savastano.

Similar in 87%

Fargo (2014)

Plot Summary:

A close-knit anthology series dealing with stories involving malice, violence and murder based in and around Minnesota.

Similar in 89%

The Sopranos (1999)

Plot Summary:

The Sopranos is an American television drama created by David Chase. The series revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads. Those difficulties are often highlighted through his ongoing professional relationship with psychiatrist Jennifer Melfi. The show features Tony's family members and Mafia associates in prominent roles and story arcs, most notably his wife Carmela and his cousin and protégé Christopher Moltisanti.

Similar in 80%

Boardwalk Empire (2010)

Plot Summary:

Boardwalk Empire is a period drama focusing on Enoch "Nucky" Thompson (based on the historical Enoch L. Johnson), a political figure who rose to prominence and controlled Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the Prohibition period of the 1920s and 1930s. Nucky interacts with several historical figures in both his personal and political life, including mobsters, politicians, government agents, and the common folk who look up to him. The federal government also takes an interest in the bootlegging and other illegal activities in the area, sending agents to investigate possible mob connections but also looking at Nucky's lifestyle—expensive and lavish for a county political figure. Primetime Emmy Award-winning screenwriter and producer Terence Winter adapted the show from Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City, a book by Nelson Johnson about historical criminal kingpin Enoch L. Johnson.

Similar in 90%

Narcos: Mexico (2018)

Plot Summary:

See the rise of the Guadalajara Cartel as an American DEA agent learns the danger of targeting narcos in 1980s Mexico.

Similar in 77%

The Corner (2000)

Plot Summary:

The Corner presents the world of Fayette Street using real names and real events. The miniseries tells the true story of men, women and children living amid the open-air drug markets of West Baltimore. It chronicles a year in the lives of 15-year-old DeAndre McCullough, his mother Fran Boyd, and his father Gary McCullough, as well as other addicts and low-level drug dealers caught up in the twin-engine economy of heroin and cocaine.

Similar in 80%

Top Boy (2011)

Plot Summary:

A thrilling and raw crime drama following a gang of drug dealers in Hackney, London - an honest and gripping rendition of inner-city drug and gang culture.

Similar in 81%

End of Watch (2012)

Plot Summary:

Two young officers are marked for death after confiscating a small cache of money and firearms from the members of a notorious cartel during a routine traffic stop.

Similar in 90%

True Detective (2014)

Plot Summary:

An American anthology police detective series utilizing multiple timelines in which investigations seem to unearth personal and professional secrets of those involved, both within or outside the law.

Similar in 90%

Breaking Bad (2008)

Plot Summary:

When Walter White, a New Mexico chemistry teacher, is diagnosed with Stage III cancer and given a prognosis of only two years left to live, he becomes filled with a sense of fearlessness and an unrelenting desire to secure his family's financial future at any cost as he enters the dangerous world of drugs and crime.

Similar in 89%

Power (2014)

Plot Summary:

James “Ghost” St. Patrick has it all: a beautiful wife, a gorgeous Manhattan penthouse, and the hottest, up-and-coming new nightclub in New York. His club, Truth, caters to the elite: the famous and infamous boldface names that run the city that never sleeps. As its success grows, so do Ghost’s plans to build an empire. However, Truth hides an ugly reality. It’s a front for Ghost’s criminal underworld; a lucrative drug network, serving only the wealthy and powerful. As Ghost is seduced by the prospect of a legitimate life, everything precious to him becomes unknowingly threatened. Once you're in, can you ever get out?.